"It's a surgery that has the wind in its sails, a taboo has been lifted", assures AFP Aurélie Fabié-Boulard, president of Sofcep (French society of aesthetic plastic surgeons).

According to her, surgery of the labia minora - labiaplasty or nymphoplasty - which consists in reducing their size, considered too big, is particularly in demand.

“Some patients report functional discomfort, others want to correct a purely aesthetic aspect,” says Ms. Fabié-Boulard.

On the dedicated forums, the testimonies are legion: "I am 23 years old and I would like to have a nymphoplasty. In addition to being unsightly, it sometimes happens that my labia minora become a nuisance when I wear underwear that is too tight or again during my sexual intercourse”, writes for example one of them.

In 2019, 4,772 nymphoplasties were performed in France.

And the demand is growing, according to the experts.

Porn codes

Adriana Guzman, aesthetic plastic surgeon, specializes in "intimate surgery".

"All kinds of patients come to see me; some, quite young, around their twenties, discover their intimacy and an anatomy that they do not consider harmonious," she says.

According to her, the influence of pornography, if it is never mentioned in consultation, "necessarily plays".

“Many young women believe that this artificial anatomy is normal,” deciphers Ms. Guzman.

Several thousand people each year have recourse to "intimate surgery" which nevertheless involves risks Ed Jones AFP / Archives

"It is always the excesses of pornographic codes that impose a certain + look +", confirms Rosa Carballeda, sexologist doctor, vice-president of the post-graduate interdisciplinary association of sexology.

"It started with full hair removal, now + you have to + have lips of the right size, or with the right shape".

The impact of social networks and influencers is also tangible.

Recently, the "stars" of reality TV, Maeva Ghennam and Sarah Fraisou, followed by several million subscribers, shocked by respectively promoting an operation intended to "rejuvenate the vagina" and capsules to fight against its relaxation.

"Scandalous" remarks, denounces Brice Gurriet, gynecological surgeon in Marseille, who harm a surgery for which there is a real need, still very underestimated.

Not just women

A booming specialty, "vaginal restoration" is aimed at a large number of women who have, for example, the after-effects of childbirth (urine leakage, pain, loosening of the perineum, etc.) or cancer treatments, he explains.

"99% of the women who come to see me for this kind of surgery often suffer for years," he says.

But "we tend to think that the woman of 40 or 50 who suffers, it's normal, + she's getting older +", he laments.

A booming specialty, "vaginal restoration" is aimed at a large number of women who, for example, have the after-effects of childbirth or cancer treatments DIDIER PALLAGES AFP/Archives

Intimate surgery isn't just for women.

Every year, hundreds of men (513 in 2016, according to the latest figures available) undergo penoplasty, intended to enlarge or lengthen the penis.

An operation performed by only 10% of cosmetic surgeons.

As with women, these procedures are not without risk.

"It's not trivial, but like any surgical procedure," says Adriana Guzman.

"Normally, everything is going well".

But sometimes, the result is bad, with poorly positioned scars and ultimately greater discomfort after the operation than before.

Infection, necrosis, loss of sensitivity, chronic pain... These complications, which remain rare, cannot be excluded.

Julie, 35, an engineer in the Toulouse region, testifies to this.

Always complexed by “lips that are too big”, she underwent surgery for the first time about ten years ago.

Deeming the result asymmetric, she went back to playing pool five years ago.

"This time the surgeon removed too much, made stitches too tight and a lump formed under the skin," she says.

Since then, she has "permanent dull pain".

And "no longer want anyone to touch it".

© 2022 AFP